The Monk That Wanted To Renounce Asceticism

Fangzheng said, “I will be publishing books from today onwards. Please address This Penniless Monk as a scholar in the future.”

“Uh… Master, aren’t we monks?” Squirrel asked.

“So what? Can’t a monk write a book? Can’t he be a scholarly person? Go away and don’t disturb This Penniless Monk’s publication.” Fangzheng waved his hand.

Squirrel simply acknowledged and prepared to leave.

But the moment he turned around, Fangzheng suddenly thought of something. He pricked up his brows and shouted. “Actually, Jingkuan, come over. See if you can understand what This Penniless Monk wrote.”

Squirrel was taken aback. He had been in One Finger Monastery for so long. Ignoring everything else, he had already learned most of the Chinese characters. It wasn’t only him, Monkey, and Salted Fish, they were also able to read and write without any hindrance. It was just that their handwriting was ugly…

Squirrel said, “Master, why couldn’t I understand it when you are just writing a book?”

As he spoke, Squirrel looked down and was stunned.

Fangzheng chuckled. “Do you understand?”

Squirrel rubbed his eyes and looked again. Then, he said to Fangzheng, “Master, do you have a fever? What nonsense are you writing? I can’t even recognize what it is! I’ve heard of impressionist drawings, of which only the artist can understand what’s being drawn. Are you one of those legendary impressionist calligraphers?”

When Fangzheng heard that, he laughed out loud.

He had just set up the Heritage Seal so that Jingkuan wouldn’t be able to understand! He wanted to know how effective the divine power was. If it worked, he wanted to know what kind of effect it would have. He was indeed extremely satisfied with this attempt.

With a thought, Fangzheng gave Squirrel access to the words. Then he smiled and said, “Take another look.”

Squirrel looked down and after reading for a while, he exclaimed. “Wow! Master, I think I understand it. What… What’s going on? It was so messy just now that it resembled runes on a talisman. Why did it suddenly become… So pretty?”

Squirrel had always believed that Fangzheng’s calligraphy was good. He had also once diligently learned it for three minutes before giving up on the idea, finding it too tiring. However, this did not stop him from liking Fangzheng’s calligraphy.

“Try memorizing this line of text.”

Squirrel rolled his eyes. “Master, I already have eidetic memory, so what’s so difficult about it?” As he spoke, Squirrel lowered his head and did a scan before closing his eyes and opening his mouth. Then…

“Go ahead,” Fangzheng said with a smile.

Squirrel opened his eyes and said bitterly, “Master, I think I’m sick. I can’t remember a single word.”

Fangzheng looked at Squirrel’s pitiful look and laughed out loud. “Look again and try memorizing it again.”

Squirrel did not doubt him as he looked down again and closed his eyes. He was astonished to discover that the line of text was identical to the content he had previously memorized. It was extremely clear!

Squirrel exclaimed. “Master, I’ve recovered!”

Fangzheng laughed out loud. “Alright, go on and have fun. Don’t disturb my book publication!”

“Master, how much can you write on this page of yours? Besides, if you finish writing it, who will you distribute it to? If I could make a suggestion, there’s so much space on this mountain. You should carve it on the mountain! Whoever came would see it. It’d be so convenient,” Squirrel casually said and prepared to leave.

Yet, Fangzheng realized that he had a point! If he wrote it on a piece of paper, he would not even know how to distribute it. But if he were to engrave it on the mountain, anyone who came could read it!

However, engraving on the mountain was clearly impractical. Although the mountain was large, it was too tall! It was so far away that the words couldn’t be seen clearly. If the words were written in a huge font, then not much could be carved on the mountain.

Fangzheng thought of a compromise. Therefore, he immediately found a set of engraving tools and placed them in the yard before returning to his room to sleep. Seeing this scene, Squirrel was baffled. However, he ignored it and went to do what he needed to do.

Late into the night, after dinner, Fangzheng took out his carving equipment and called out to Red Boy, telling him to fly deep into the mountain.

Not long later, Red Boy returned with a huge stone slab that resembled a mountain gate!

With a boom, it landed on Mt. One Finger where there was an empty space a short distance from the monastery. This spot was where the film crew had once set up their tents. Now that they were gone, the area was covered in weeds. There was nothing to feel sorry for.

This huge stone slab was like a wall. It gave off a dignified and solemn vibe and formed a shocking impact to one’s visual senses.

At the same time, Fangzheng jumped down from the stone stele and looked at it in satisfaction. “Jingxin, get another piece. This piece is probably not enough!”

Red Boy nodded. Extracting some stone from the ground to turn it into a stone slab wasn’t difficult for him. Not long after, another huge rock landed. However, it was somewhat crooked, making it unsuitable. When Red Boy wanted to get another one, Fangzheng waved his hand, indicating that it was fine.

A set-up that seemed more natural was even more interesting.

Following that, Fangzheng used Frost Bamboo to make a mobile ladder and got Salted Fish to push him from below. He began to carve words on the stone slab—words that were neither too large nor too small. As long as the people below weren’t myopic, they could definitely see it clearly.

At first, Fangzheng used special carving techniques, but after a while, he realized that he was much stronger than before. The chisel could simply sweep through the stone slab! Hence, he threw away the rest of his equipment and used the chisel as a pen. With vigorous strokes, he began to rapidly write on the stone slab like a Buddha splashing ink over a piece of art.

Salted Fish below had been looking up, but with every wave of Fangzheng’s hands, the rock fragments fell down. This covered his face with dust! More importantly, he couldn’t close his eyes due to the lack of eyelids.

“Jingkuan, do me a favor! There’s too much dust,” Salted Fish shouted.

When Squirrel heard that, he hurriedly nodded and turned to run.

After a while, Salted Fish’s eyes were covered with two pieces of black cloth…

Squirrel chuckled and asked, “Junior Brother, how is it?”

“Heh heh. Aren’t you afraid of Master dying from falling?”

Finally, Monkey took over Salted Fish’s position and worked with Fangzheng. The two stone slabs were carved in one night front and back.

Seeing that it was almost dawn, Fangzheng put down the chisel and jumped down. He brought Monkey to strike the bell and drum. Then, he entered the backyard and fell asleep.

Just as Fangzheng was about to fall asleep, visitors came up the mountain, filling One Finger Monastery with people. The visitors who couldn’t enter the temple could only walk around outside. Soon, they discovered the two conspicuous large stone slabs.

“What is that?”

“It looks like two giant stone screens to block out the wind!”

“That can’t be, right? They weren’t here yesterday, so how did they appear today?”

“Yang Hua, have you seen them before?”

Yang Hua shook his head and said, “I’ve never seen them before. Let’s go take a closer look.”

Yang Hua and a few curious visitors walked over. However, when they came over, they were stunned.

“What is this? Greek?”

“Some talisman?”

“A stone slab from the heavens, a talisman? This…”